It took some doing, even rallying from an early 7-0 deficit, but the Blue Dukes were finally able to rid themselves of the pesky Indians with a 55-46 decision.

"It was good that we started responding better," said Blue Duke coach Kevin Lazovik. "We would have liked a better start, but I like our perseverance. That we can fall down seven, 10 or 12 points and still bring ourselves back."

With the win, the Blue Dukes improved to 7-2 overall, while Falls, even though game-after-game it remains competitive, fell to 0-8.

Bay pulled off the win a day after a tough 60-55 North Shore win over Grafton, a useful exercise in the eyes of Lazovik.

Dec. 22, 2012 10:55 p.m. | Germantown junior point guard LaMonte Bearden doesn't see it as anything magical the way he flows through defenses like a knife through butter, setting up teammates and leading the unbeaten and number one ranked Warhawk boys' basketball team to one imposing victory after another.

He just sees it as a matter of trust. And coach Steve Showalter's trust in the transfer student from Homestead is not misplaced.

In the Warhawks' stunningly dominant 80-36 rout of the state's second-ranked division 3 school in East Troy Saturday night, Bearden picked pockets, snagged rebounds away from bigger people and generally made miserable a Trojan team, which had come in with an impressive 5-0 record, boasting two 6-9 national recruits in Brett and Alex Prahl.

"I thank coach for trusting me, to take on the role of point guard," he said after his 21-point performance. "Everybody is expecting me to do well."

Dec. 22, 2012 2:35 p.m. | Germantown's girls basketball team handed Arrowhead its first loss with a 66-60 outcome at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee on Saturday.

GT forced 35 turnovers thanks to its up-tempo, mass-substitution offense but still had to fight off a late rally. Arrowhead overcame a 10-point deficit after three quarters and tied the game at 58-58 with 2:48 to play on an Ally May basket, but Amy Flasch scored her only basket of the game in response, and Germantown never trailed again.

Bridget Kelley scored 16 points for Germantown, and Taylor Higginbotham scored 13, including six on three straight baskets in the third quarter as Germantown built its advantage. Kelly Smith scored 21 for Arrowhead, including the first two baskets of the second half as Arrowhead quickly turned a 35-32 deficit at halftime into a 42-39 edge.

Dec. 19, 2012 1:05 p.m. | Like many schools across the area including in Oak Creek and Waukesha, rumors of a threat to Menomonee Falls High School have been circulating at school and in the community, which officials at the School District said are being thoroughly investigated.

A letter was sent to Menomonee Falls parents, saying nothing has indicated that there is a threat to the school on Friday, which is the day the rumor has targeted.

In cooperation with the Menomonee Falls Police Department, any concerns about specific students have been investigated through interviews with students and families, locker searches and media monitoring, according to the School District.

"While we intend to be visible and vigilant on Friday we do intend to continue with classes," reads a letter sent to parents from Menomonee Falls High School Principal Corey Golla. "As a parent you have every right to keep your children home on Friday."

The letter also asks parents to tell their children that providing false information will result in serious consequences at school and with police.

Dec. 18, 2012 10:41 p.m. | Good border rivalries in sports bring out the best, the worst and sometimes the personal in everyone.

Take the Menomonee Falls-Sussex Hamilton boys basketball game Tuesday night in the Falls. The student sections were doing their usual "Why so quiet?", "Let's play football!" type of chants, when the Charger fans, tired of being reminded that the Indians upset them in one of the great grid games of autumn, upped the ante' with this:

"You're so ugly!"

Ouch! The Falls fans largely laughed it off, even Falls coaches in the stands chuckled at the clever rejoinder and then everyone started paying attention to the game again.

Their guys had struggled against the unbeaten Chargers (3-0 in Greater Metro Conference play and 7-0 overall) for the better part of three quarters, scoring only two points in the first period.

Dec. 18, 2012 4:50 p.m. | ZBB Energy Corp. has shipped an energy storage system to the U.S. Navy, an order valued at more than $1 million.

The company said Tuesday the energy storage system, or EnerSystem, will be used in an island microgrid that will combine battery power with renewable energy and diesel generators.

The system, including a power and energy control system as well as 20 ZBB zinc bromide flow batteries, will be installed at the San Nicolas Island Naval Facility in the Catalina Islands off the coast of Los Angeles.

During the next two years, ZBB said, the EnerSystem will be tested over the next two years to see how the system performs in delivering power from a combination of soruces, including wind turbines and diesel generators.

The Navy is considering deployment in other island settings like Guantanamo Bay and Diego Garcia, Roger Natsuhara of the Navy said in a statement this fall.

Dec. 18, 2012 1:40 p.m. | Menomonee Falls School Board Member Lori Blodorn will resign from the School Board within the next few weeks as she accepted the position of human resources manager within the School District.

Blodorn, whose Board seat is open in the spring election, will replace the current Human Resources Manager Ken Kuberka.

According to the District, Blodorn will officially start her new job in January.

The School Board will also decide in January how to handle the vacant seat. The Board can either appoint someone who would then have to run for election in April, or run with six members until the election.

More than 75 candidates were reviewed for the human resources manager position. A handful of candidates were interviewed, according to the District.

Dec. 17, 2012 12:55 p.m. | It could have been a case of "Up on the rooftop, slip, slip, slip" that caused a concerned Germantown resident to call police when what looked to be a person was hanging from a second-story gutter.

Not to worry. The person was actually a humorous holiday decoration.

According to the Germantown police:

A resident called police to report a subject hanging from a second-story gutter and was not moving in the W164 N11000 block of Kings Way at 3:50 p.m. Dec. 13.

Officers responded to the address and determined the subject in question was a holiday decoration.